Chapter 18 The Garden

"Dmitri, Aerys, you won t be having lessons today," Zinaida announces at the breakfast table. I glance up from my blini with barely concealed irritation. My reading last night and waking up early to study Russian have put me a mite bit behind on sleep, and hearing that one of my few pleasures is being taken away for the day hardly improves my situation or my mood. "Whyever not, Mother?" Dmitri asks, no doubt sensing my disgruntled aura and choosing to handle the situation before I make some snarky remark. "Because today we will be hosting a ball to celebrate your engagement, and you simply must spend the day practicing for a few minor ceremonial things and getting ready." The look on Zinaida s face is a blissful picture of the rosy imaginings flitting through her mind--more than enough to make me shudder in horror. Dmitri and I exchange glances; our thoughts are mirror images. There has to be a way for us to get out of this. "What sort of ceremonial things?" Dmitri asks, his tone a bit more testy now that he knows the sort of torture to which we will be subjected. Zinaida s eyes widen with surprise that her son does not already know this vital information. "Just the announcement and the showing of your necklaces, that s all. Oh, and I expect that you ll lead the first few dances. It s only customary, after all. Aerys, dear, you do know how to ballroom dance, don t you?" "They say I m quite proficient in the art," I reply coolly, keeping my eyes lowered. There s no use in showing her my irritation. Zinaida actually claps her hands with delight. "Excellent! I m sure the two of you will be absolutely marvellous. I ve never seen a pair better suited, I must say, and of course all the relatives will think so, too...." Zinaida continues twittering on, but Dmitri visibly blanches at the mention of relatives. It s not hard to guess why: They ll all be elementals, and I m not meant to know that any of them are in the least bit inhuman. What a splendid mess this is. I should like to go back to bed when this ill-fated meal is over. But that is not to be, I can tell just from the endless streams of words pouring from my fiancé s mother s lips. I can already see my day being wasted on pointless ceremonial practices, being stuffed into a ridiculously uncomfortable costume for the night s festivities, and then being tied down for evil witches to unnecessarily style and ornament my hair and paint my face. Dmitri looks as displeased as I feel, though I can t imagine why. Men have it easy. They don t have to wear corsets. "Mother, might I have a few words with you in private?" Dmitri interjects suddenly. Without waiting for a reply, he pulls her out of her chair and behind a screen at the other end of the dining room. This puzzles me; surely they should have stepped outside if he wanted privacy. As things are, I can hear everything, despite their conversing in mostly low whispers. "Goodness, Dmitri, whatever is the matter? It s very rude to leave your fiancée alone like that--" Zinaida begins. "This can t wait," Dmitri hisses in reply. "How do you intend to keep her from finding out about our family if you invite all of our relatives into our home? You can hardly think that characters like Great-Uncle Barney and Cousin Wycliffe are going to help you keep any sort of secret." Oh, so there are some interesting characters in the family. These both sound like Wesley s relatives. Perhaps tonight will not be as boring as I feared. "You worry too much. I specifically mentioned the delicacy of the situation in all of the invitations. Everything will be fine." "You place entirely too much faith in them. Perhaps you re right and no one will make the truth obvious on purpose, but anyone could slip up by accident, especially those unused to human society, and she is very smart and perceptive--" "Annoyingly so. Her grandmother always praised her intelligence but also her demure demeanor and lack of curiosity. I almost wonder if they sent us a different girl." Her remark about my 'demure demeanor and lack of curiosity almost make me burst into incredulous laughter. I have played my part well then, at home, at least. "That necklace was supposed to make a difference... I can never quite tell if it s working or not." Good. "Doesn t the idea of these necklaces and of keeping secrets from her like this bother you at all?" Dmitri presses. "She s no toy or puppet, which I for one count as a blessing, as I would never consent to wed an object instead of a woman." Admiration for him swells inside me. I will be thanking him after breakfast. I could kiss him again for sheer gratitude. "Dear, it s just to make sure she doesn t try to escape. I m sure the revelation of what we are would be most frightening for her. After everything her grandfather did to us, I will not permit the restitution to slip from our fingers--" My blood boils at the word restitution used to denote me, but my curiosity is undeniably piqued by the mention of my grandfather. What did he do to them? "You might be surprised. She might be fascinated by the idea of what we are. She knows her grandmother is a sorceress, anyway. It is not as though she believes that the world is without magic and things that defy explanation. But we have deviated from the point. I would simply suggest that, if you are so bent on maintaining the illusion that we are all humans here, you rethink tonight s festivities or find some sort of leverage that will make everyone cooperate with you. I know your relatives will keep the secret, but you know how mischievous members of Father s clan can be." "They ll be on their best behavior tonight, if they wish to avoid a war. Let us return to breakfast and your fiancée, of whom you seem to think so highly." "You say that as though it is a bad thing. If we re meant to be married, it only stands to reason that we should admire and respect each other." "I simply do not value the same qualities in her as you do. Now, enough." And they reemerge from behind the screen. Dmitri s eyes immediately go to mine, which I raised from my meal briefly at the sound of their footsteps. The flames in his eyes seem to ask me if I heard it all, and I reply with the slightest of nods. The slightest of smirks graces his lips in return and I know that he intended exactly that. "Aerys, dear, what color dress should you like to wear for this evening s celebration?" Zinaida asks me quite as though her confrontation with Dmitri has not just occurred. "I am permitted to choose? I assumed you would have already chosen for me. But, given the choice, I should dearly love something of ocean blue or emerald green," I reply with bright complacency, undercut by a bit of snark that only Dmitri will catch. Zinaida looks a bit puzzled for a moment. "You would not prefer white?" "Certainly not. It does nothing for my skin tone and rather makes me to resemble a ghost, which I should not think a favorable impression to leave with the family to which I will be joined in less than one years time." I can see Zinaida regretting giving me a choice. I knew it was too good to be true. White is the traditional color, I know. I probably should have worn white for my birthday when I was taken away, too, but I m sure they chose red, the most sensual color, on purpose to help their own objectives along. "Perhaps a compromise? Would a lighter blue or green suit you, darling?" Dmitri suggests. I can tell from the look in his eyes that he just wants this discussion to be over so that we can move on to more important, more exciting things. "Light blue would be acceptable, yes. Perhaps a variant of cyan? I think I ve seen something in my armoire that will be more than suitable. Maybe you would like to come to my chambers with me to select something acceptable?" Dmitri s eyes widen and he shakes his head frantically, mouthing "No" over and over again. Zinaida seems to be considering it, but then Juniper enters the dining room, distracting her from my ill-considered invitation. "Milady, the decorators have arrived," Juniper announces. "Oh splendid! I ll just be meeting with them, then. Children, you may have two hours this morning, starting now, to yourselves, and then I expect you to start getting ready. Juniper, you will help Aerys choose her attire and otherwise prepare for tonight. Aerys and Dmitri, I expect you to be in the ballroom looking impeccable and in love at precisely 7:30 pm," Zinaida directs before dashing out of the room without so much as a proper leave-taking. Juniper surveys Dmitri and I with a critical eye. "You d best be going about whatever business you wish to be accomplishing before preparations for this evening must start," she tells us, her eyes narrowing on Dmitri. "And I sincerely hope I don t have to tell you to be on your best behavior." "When are we ever otherwise, Juniper? Our parents have raised us to be nothing but perfectly well-behaved," Dmitri replies angelically. "I thought we would spend our time outside, perhaps walking in the garden or working on Aerys riding skills." "An excellent idea. You d best be moving. I ll send someone to retrieve you when your time has been expended." I certainly don t have to be told twice. I flee from the room as swiftly as possible, and Dmitri is close behind me. "Stable. We ll ride to the furthest garden. That should buy us some extra time before the torture starts," he whispers before taking my hand and pulling me into the passage that leads to the stables. The journey is a whirlwind as we race to get out of the mansion as quickly as possible. Roderick has Dmitri s stallion ready when we arrive, and moments later we re galloping into the great outdoors. I cling desperately to the horse s mane. We haven t been riding since the day he told me about the necklaces. I wonder what, if any, new revelations today s excursion will bring. I don t have long to wait, despite our going to 'the farthest garden, which is indeed at the base of one of the mountains that form a necklace around Dmitri s family s home. It s done in an unfamiliar style, Japanese, I believe. Trees and other plants grow closely together and a small creek flows through the middle. Nature exists harmoniously here. It s easy to forget that the mansion and our impending doom are only a few minutes gallop away. "D you like it?" Dmitri asks after helping me off Excalibur s back. "It s beautiful," I reply honestly, spinning around on my tiptoes to take it all in. "You ve not shown me this one before." "I save it for special occasions." He settles himself on a bench and I decide to join him. Might as well rest while I can, before the craziness begins. "Like escaping from engagement parties?" "I ve never used it in a situation so dire before, but I cannot think of a better reason to come here." "You re concerned about your relatives giving the game away? I ve not sussed enough of it already to be worrisome?" We share a chuckle at my joke, but Dmitri quickly turns serious. "My parents don t know that, nor do they need to. I trust you can act appropriately surprised and curious if anyone does slip up tonight." "Of course. I m a good enough actress, and besides, I might learn something tonight that you ve not yet told me." "You ll learn plenty about my family that I ve not yet told you. A solid portion of my father s relatives are barmy as bedbugs. I m told that too much playing with fire can do that to a man." "You d best watch yourself, then. I ll not marry a madman," I tease. He smirks wickedly before pulling a daft expression and juggling fireballs for a few seconds. Then the seriousness returns again. The celebration must truly be a thing of terror, else his mother s event planning skills are. "Mother s relatives are the scary ones, in all honesty. Father s are fun, but those Russians are so serious. One would think that air-ruled spirits would be more laid-back and adaptable, but they re all rigidly traditional aristocratic sorts." "You need not worry. I can please them all." "I have no worries about your performance and every worry about them. They ll perceive your abilities easily, and they may remark on them to you. Of course it should come as a shock to you if my parents are in earshot--" "Why are you telling me things that I already know? What are you so afraid of?" "My drunk relatives making a scene, my parents finding out that you re smarter than they think you are, and a severe restriction of your freedoms." "Fair enough. More restrictions would drive me mad." "Have you returned those books to the library yet?" "No. I haven t finished them." "You d best be doing that soon. They ll be missed if they re gone more than a couple days." "All right. I ll just be reading them while Juniper helps me dress and style my hair and paint my face--" I have to stop so I can laugh at the horrified expression on Dmitri s face. "Never mind. If anyone asks questions, I ll just tell them that I hid the books so that your curiosity would not be piqued by them." "That would be the smart thing. Thank you kindly for your assistance." "I honestly would have thought you d have read them both by now, as curious as you are." "Curiosity notwithstanding, I still need to sleep, and I didn t do nearly enough of that to be prepared for the nonsense we ll be forced to endure for the rest of the day." "Perhaps you d like to nap now then?" "Not a chance. That will eliminate the possibility of annoying Juniper by falling asleep during dress fittings and other preparations." "Bit devious, aren t you?" "It serves me well." "It does suit you," he remarks, eyes flickering with things left unspoken. He drops a glance to my lips, and when his eyes return to mine, the flames are darker with something like lust. I m drawn in like a moth to flame, and thus moments later our lips meet. So many powerful feelings. Something seems to be boiling inside of me. I have to pull away, panting, wide-eyed, and trembling with disappointment. Why did you make it stop? I couldn t handle it, couldn t.... But his lips, still there, drawing me in again. Another touch, another burst of emotion, heat, terrifyingly strong attraction. His hands on my face, keeping me there, radiating heat. Lips move together, somehow, beyond my control. But the boiling inside me intensifies, and again I am compelled to pull away so that I will not be consumed by it. "I ve never heard of anything like this between one of my kind and a human," Dmitri mutters, eyes blazing. I m shaking all over from the aftershocks of the feelings his kiss aroused. "What is this?" I whisper, unable to speak louder. He wraps an arm around me, pulling me closer to him to try to quell my shaking. "I don t know. We ll have to figure it out together. I don t suppose your books would be any help?" "What I read last night should have been helpful for this, but...." "What did you read?" "The introduction to elementals in the book of supernatural history. Mostly about abilities...and breeding." "Breeding?" "Yes. There was a bit about what happens in the rare event that an elemental and a human crossbreed. It made sense in conjunction with what you told me about my grandmother choosing me for you, but it didn t offer any hints about...this." I have a hypothesis, but I don t dare breathe a word about it. I can only surmise that my magic and his ability are extremely eager to join and transmute, or whatever it is they will do when Dmitri and I "engage in the mating act." As such, whenever he and I touch, particularly intimately, they will do everything they can to join each other, causing the emotional overload I ve been experiencing. Somehow, I ll have to make myself ready for...that before we get married, whenever that happens. But if I tell Dmitri my hypothesis, I m afraid it will be taken as encouragement towards certain activities, and I really am not ready to even consider such things. "Maybe you should read the other one, about humans with magic. It might be more helpful. Or browse through the history book and see if any stories about relationships like this are in there." "You mean, bizarre arranged marriages?" I inquire saucily, trying to lighten the mood. He rolls his eyes at me. "You know what I mean." That smoldering look again. I lower my eyes, unable to stand it because of the strange swirling inside me. The enchantments on the necklaces are probably amplifying the feelings, too. And the mutual physical attraction can t be making it easier. I have to change the subject. "How long will this thing be tonight, do you think?" "A few hours," Dmitri shrugs. "Too long. Unless, of course, some of the relatives misbehave and Mother ends the evening early." "May we hope for that. I hate ceremonial functions." "That makes two of us. But the dancing might make it bearable." Oh right. We have to dance together, probably for most of the night. Somehow, I think dealing with these unfamiliar feelings is only going to become more difficult.